"It is not something anyone can even dream of," says Krishnappa Gowtham after recent heroics (Exclusive)

August 23, 2019, the Shivamogga Lions were taking on the Bellary Tuskers in the 15th match of the ongoing Karnataka Premier League. Ballari Tuskers skipper CM Gautam won the toss and elected to bat first in a rain-affected 17-over-game. Lions skipper Abhimanyu Mithun dismissed Gautam in the third over. Krishnappa Gowtham walked out to bat at number three to produce an extraordinary knock.

Gowtham scored an unbeaten 134 off 56 balls which included 13 sixes and 7 fours. He registered the quickest KPL hundred at an astonishing strike rate of 239.29. In the second innings, Gowtham produced magic with the ball dismissing 5 out of the top 6 batsmen and finished with unbelievable figures of 8 for 15 in four overs. He later termed the match as a once-in-a-lifetime-game.

Sportskeeda caught up with Krishnappa Gowtham after his heroics.

About the once-in-a-lifetime-game

"The plan was to target their best bowlers so when I went into bat it was about making use of the power-play and targeting their best bowler so that their other bowlers are under pressure. When you go out to bowl with a 100 on your back the feeling is completely different and for me things worked out really well," Gowtham said as he talked about the successfully initiation of his team's plan.

He was declared the man of the match on which he said, "I couldn’t believe the thing that had just happened. It was something not anyone can even dream of. It is something which just happened and I was fortunate enough to do that, it felt unreal. When you do well you get more positive."

Learning from the greats

The 30-year-old is nicknamed Bhajji due to his previous similarity to Harbhajan Singh. Back in 2008, Gowtham had a bowling action which was similar to Harbhajan Singh's action. When the Australian side toured India in 2008, Gowtham worked as a net-bowler due to his bowling ability and action.

"11 years is a long time, in cricket you grow everyday and every moment, bowling to the Australian team that time was something which was very special because you are bowling to the international legends like Hayden, Gilchrist and Ponting."

While talking about the changes in the last 11 years, Gowtham said, "Things that have changed are the mindset, believing more in myself, doing what best you can with abilities and I've got mentally stronger than I was and I've been working on my fitness and batting."

Previously the off-spinner trained under the guidance of Erapalli Prasanna who represented India in 49 Test-matches in which he scalped 189 wickets with best figures of 8 for 76.

"Prasanna sir would teach me to bowl the way I could bowl and he would never try to tamper with my bowling action, he was just asking me to bowl the areas which would get wickets. I was working with him to get better and better and it helped me a lot."

IPL and KPL

In the 2018 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Gowtham was procured by the Rajasthan Royals for ₹6.2 crores. "As a pro cricketer you need to handle pressure the way you know to. My way is different and everyone has their own way of expressing pressure, for me, the more pressure it is the best comes out of me, I enjoy the pressure, I thoroughly enjoyed the IPL," he said while talking about the IPL.

While talking about the Karnataka Premier League (KPL), he said, "KPL has given the youngsters and me an opportunity to showcase their talent on a stage. In domestic cricket, only 15-16 players will be playing for the state team and others will miss out, there are teams who are looking keenly at this tournament (KPL), the standard of KPL is getting better day by day and it's a great initiative for cricket to grow every day," Gowtham signed off.

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